A report that Hamas will return two slain hostages to Israel is not true, a person familiar with discussions about the Gaza hostage and ceasefire deal said Monday.

The London-based Asharq al-Awsat newspaper had reported that Hamas would release the two slain hostages in exchange for the 600 prisoners who were supposed to be released from Israeli prisons on Saturday.

Israel held up the scheduled release for the humiliating manner in which hostages have been released over the last few weeks, particularly after Hamas was set to return the body of Shiri Bibas last Thursday. Forensic testing later showed it was the body of a Gazan woman, and Hamas on Friday returned Shiri Bibas’s remains for burial.

Asharq al-Awsat had quoted a source as saying that “negotiations are under way to complete the deal, with the number of Palestinian prisoners to be released, which stood at 602, expected to rise – in exchange for the two hostages who will be released today [Monday] if negotiations go well.”

A drone view shows Palestinians and terrorists gathering around Red Cross vehicles on the day Hamas hands over the bodies of deceased hostages Oded Lifschitz, Shiri Bibas and her two children Kfir and Ariel Bibas, seized during the deadly October 7, 2023 attack. (credit: REUTERS/Stringer)
A drone view shows Palestinians and terrorists gathering around Red Cross vehicles on the day Hamas hands over the bodies of deceased hostages Oded Lifschitz, Shiri Bibas and her two children Kfir and Ariel Bibas, seized during the deadly October 7, 2023 attack. (credit: REUTERS/Stringer)

Prisoners never released

On Sunday, Hamas condemned Israel’s decision to delay the release of the prisoners, saying its claim that the hostages’ handover ceremonies are “humiliating” was false and a pretext to evade Israel’s obligations under the Gaza ceasefire agreement.

Among the 600 who were supposed to be released are several senior Hamas leaders from the West Bank and prisoners who were rearrested after being released in the Gilad Schalit deal in 2011.